The Election Commission has made publicly available on its website the comprehensive electoral bond data handed over by the State Bank of India (SBI) to the Supreme Court. Since the scheme's inception in 2018, SBI has disclosed information on electoral bonds worth 16,518 crores in 30 installments. According to the SBI affidavit, 22,217 bonds have been purchased from April 1, 2019, to February 15, 2024, spread across three denominations of ₹1 lakh, ₹10 lakh, and ₹1 crore. The total number of bonds redeemed during this period is 22,030.
The Election Commission uploaded two separate reports on its website. The first PDF contains 337 pages that include the names of the buying companies and organizations, purchase dates, and financial details. The second PDF, comprising 426 pages, shares details of the political parties involved, along with the dates and amounts. However, it remains unclear which company or institution bought which electoral bond, as the bond numbers are not provided in the available information. Nor does it disclose which company donated to which party.
Let's focus on the prominent companies that have purchased the highest value electoral bonds to fund different political parties in the country. According to figures uploaded by the Election Commission, Future Gaming and Hotel Services and Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Limited lead the list from April 2019 to January 2024. With 1,368 crores, Future Gaming and Hotel Services is the top funder, while Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Limited follows with 966 crores in funds.
Read here: List of donors funding political parties
'Lottery King' owns Future Gaming and Hotel Services
Future Gaming, purportedly owned by South India's 'Lottery King' Santiago Martin, began his lottery business at 13 and has since established a vast network of lottery buyers and sellers across the nation. In the South, the firm operates under Martin Karnataka, whereas in the Northeast, it is known as Martin Sikkim Lottery.
Megha Engineering has projects in 18 states
Megha Engineering & Infrastructure Limited, known for its dam and power projects, is owned by PV Krishna Reddy and PP Reddy. Based in Hyderabad, according to the company website, it operates in areas of irrigation, water management, power, hydrocarbons, transportation, building, and industrial infrastructure. The company is a leader in PPP (Public-Private Partnership) with central and state governments and currently has projects across more than 18 states.
See PDF for who bought electoral bonds
See which parties cashed the electoral bonds in this PDF
Other top companies purchasing electoral bonds include-
- Quick Supply Chain Private Limited with 410 crore bonds purchased. - Vedanta Limited with 400 crore bonds. - Haldia Energy Limited with 377 crores in bonds. - Bharti Group with 247 crores in bonds. - Essel Mining & Industries Limited with a total of 224 crores in electoral bonds. - Other companies purchasing electoral bonds are Grasim Industries, Torrent Power, Bharti Airtel, DLF Commercial Developers, Apollo Tyres, Lakshmi Mittal, Edelweiss, PVR, Keventer, Sula Wine, Welspun, Sun Pharma, ITC, Mahindra & Mahindra, DLF, PVR, Birla, Bajaj, Jindal, SpiceJet, IndiGo, and Goenka, among others.
Read also: SBI releases electoral bond details to EC following SC reprimand
The top 5 political parties receiving funding via electoral bonds-
1.
BJP has received 47% of the total bonds fund, amounting to 6,061 crores through electoral bonds.
2.
West Bengal's ruling party, TMC, is second on the list with 12.6% of the total bonds fund, equals to 1,610 crores received through bonds.
3.
The Congress party, one of the oldest in the country, is third in terms of funds received via electoral bonds, securing 1,422 crores which represent 11% of the total bonds.
4.
BRS with 9.5% and 1,215 crores in funds comes next.
5.
BJD, the ruling party in Odisha, is in fifth place with 6% of the funds, which translates to 776 crores through electoral bonds.
6.
Other parties receiving funds through electoral bonds include AIADMK, Shiv Sena, TDP, YSR Congress, DMK, JD(S), NCP, JD(U), RJD, AAP, and Samajwadi Party.
Also read: 187 electoral bonds contributed to PM Relief Fund; reasons for the extended sale period explained
What is an electoral bond and why was it introduced?
On January 28, 2017, then Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Arun Jaitley announced the electoral bond scheme in India. It was legally implemented on January 29, 2018. The government's intent was to bring 'clean' money into electoral donations and enhance 'transparency'. Electoral bonds ranging from ₹1,000 to ₹1 crore can be issued from 29 SBI branches. They can be bought by anyone and given to any political party of their choice. However, the Supreme Court declared the electoral bond scheme 'unconstitutional' and nullified it on February 15 of the same year.
